Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-07-01
BABY AND HIS THUMB.
A Noteworthy Instance of Infantile Re
olutiOn-A Long Struggle.

4 Noteworthy Instance of Infantile Res.
olution-A Long Struggle.
From the time that he was six weeks
old his thumb was hardly ever out of his
mouth for an hour. 1t was only in that
way he could drop off to sleep. His in
slant response to caress, even when q
mere infant, was to nestle down with his
cheek against the beloved face and slip
his thumb into his mouth. Many times u
day he would seem to fall into q reyerie in
that position. What single diversion or
passion in the complex of life of an adult
could be so indispensable, SO hard to re-
Inquish, as this, the one pastime, the one
employment Of baby's idle hours?
Scores OF friends have said: s'You must
break it up. The longer you wait the
harder the fight will be.'' Only one
method was ever suggested to US: to put
something so disgusting or bitter upon the
thumb that it would be uncomfortable to
him, and to persist in this treatment until
the association with the thumb was only
one of aversion, not of comfort. This was
actually tried on little Enswoman of his
who bites her nails; but the soft hearted
grandsire applying the aloes could not re-
frain from assuring her it was ssnice''
and pretending to taste it. So she accepts
it as a treat, licks it off and begs for more.
Now assafetida is called for.
The week after Max was two wears old
his mother, to prepare him for what
seemed the inevitable treatment. talked
with him long and earnestly, showing him
the calloused, distorted little thumb. so
helpless to resist his cruel treatment; tel
ling him that he was pushing his dear
little teeth also out of place. and assuring
him that 1t was making her very unhappy.
So completely were we under the influence
of all the more experienced parents of our
acquaintance that we had no thought of
more than momentary effect from these
words.
For the next day or two he was unac-
countably irritable and at night especially
he tossed and fretted for hours instead of
lapsing off at once into peaceful slumbers
as before. Once when his mother stepped
in to soothe him she was greeted with an
angry Mamma, go way Dom want
mamma! Want kick mammal" Pres
emily we realized what a struggle was
being fought through. From that Gay he
never again in his waking hours put the
thumb inside the mouth, nor ever alluded
W IL CAcepO " ooh Sy ElpdtIly lOT tNe poo
little so fmum!" A week or so later,
when he spent the day with some intimate
friends, they were astonished to see him
many times raise his hand with the GEES
ture which had become involuntary, be-
think himself in season, and with an eff
fort lower it again. After few days he
was as atfectionate and full of delight in
life as ever, but for weeks he could fall
asleep only after long, wearisome strug
gle. Several times in this month Janu
airy, 1880 we have found that long after
falling asleep, say 10 or II in the evening
his thumb had slipped in. This shows
how strong the habit had grown. And
yet when aroused in the effort TO draw il
out he repels with an indignant ''No-o-or
round mouthed and wide eyed. the charge
of ever once returning to the old habit.
Was not that a successful appeal to ;
higher motive than disgust? VIII not the
success of that first great effort help the
growth of the qrHen OF all virtues, sophro
syne-self control?-Babyhood.